new camera advice

[yakfisher]

A friend of ours has asked for advice on a new camera. They have a soon to be one year old and with the camera they have now they feel the shutter lag causes them to miss the moment. My wife suggested an SLR to them, but I am thinking some of you might have a better idea. I have seen panasonic and fuji mentioned here more than once. What have your experiences been with the shutter lag and ease of use? Thanks in advance.

[surfs]

This might not answer all your thoughts and quetions, but I just bought an SLR because I have two small children....and I was missing a lot of great opportunities with my sony cybershot. I've had for a few days and I'm really glad I bought it. Good luck to your decision.

[Moose]

I have a Panasonic TZ3 the shutter lag isn't bad but it's no DSLR.I am happy with the image quality and the Lica lens. It recovers faster than most point and shoots But I still get some blur on the fast moving shots. I had a Kodak and that was terrible 3 plus seconds on the recovery and the shutter lag missed 90%of the shots. I like the panasonic 10x zoom and small enough to wear like a cell phone on the belt. I have been looking at the new Nikon P80 bigger zoom and some manual capabilities plus the Nikor lens a little bigger but still small enough to carry on the belt.I still haven't found a DSLR small enough to wear on my belt. Just some thoughts.

Moose

[JohnK]

I have an old Panasonic FZ1, a FZ30 and a Nikon D80, my wife carries an Olympus F115. There is no comparison, the D80 is miles ahead of the Panasonics and the Oly. The FZ30 didn't seem to have to bad a shutter lag when I first got it, but after using the D80 it's slow enough to drive me crazy - the Oly is even slower.

The consumer level DSLR like the D40, D40x, D60, D80 (and Canon equilivants) all have full automatic modes that make them just as easy to use as a point and shoot, but still have all the manual options for when you learn more about them and want more control.